Foxy Malone’s is set to bring live Irish and acoustic music back to one of Mooloolaba’s most familiar nightlife corners, with the new pub and restaurant preparing to open in the former O’Malley’s site later this month.
The new venue will take over the long-running O’Malley’s Irish Bar location on the Mooloolaba Esplanade, following a reported $2 million revamp of the beachfront site.
According to the Sunshine Coast Daily/Courier Mail, Foxy Malone’s is expected to open in late June, with live Irish and acoustic music planned four times a week.
The venue is also expected to include live sports, pool tables, interactive darts and elevated pub dining, giving the old O’Malley’s corner a new fit-out while keeping some of the Irish-pub energy locals remember.
A new chapter for an old Mooloolaba site
O’Malley’s Irish Bar closed in August 2025 after more than 20 years in Mooloolaba, marking the end of an iconic Sunshine Coast pub era: green pints, cover bands, backpackers, locals, tourists and messy late nights.
Mooloolaba has long been one of the Coast’s most visible hospitality strips, with the kind of foot traffic most live music venues would kill for.
At the same time, the wider venue map has been shifting fast. In the past year, the region has lost major music and hospitality spaces including Solbar in Maroochydore and The Station in Birtinya, both of which had become important parts of the local gig circuit.
Live music four nights a week
The early plan for Foxy Malone’s includes live music four times weekly, with Irish music, acoustic performers, local bands and familiar favourites expected to be part of the mix.
If that programming holds, it gives Mooloolaba another regular live music stop in a corridor already being reshaped by venues including Blackflag Brewing and TAPS Mooloolaba.
Mooloolaba’s live music map is moving
Foxy Malone’s is not the only venue putting fresh energy into Mooloolaba after dark.
Blackflag Brewing has also been building its Mooloolaba presence, with its original bar tucked down a back alley near the beach, while TAPS Mooloolaba has added another late-night stop on the corner of Brisbane Road and The Esplanade.
The brewery describes its Mooloolaba bar as its “spiritual home”, with free pool, takeaway beers and live music on Sundays. TAPS Mooloolaba has also been pitched as a raw, late-night dive bar with Blackflag beers on tap.
Together, the new Foxy Malone’s fit-out, Blackflag’s Mooloolaba bar and the arrival of TAPS point to a busier live music and bar strip around one of the Coast’s highest-traffic beachside pockets.
Who is behind Foxy Malone’s?
The new venue is being led by Brisbane-based Hallmark Hospitality, which reportedly operates 15 venues across South East Queensland and has taken on the Mooloolaba site under a 25-year lease.
It will be the group’s first Sunshine Coast venue.
The launch weekend is expected to include live Irish music, food, Guinness, immersive experiences, a VIP launch party and a competition to win a trip to Ireland.
A familiar corner gets another shot
The Sunshine Coast does not have one neat live music strip. It has pockets: Nambour, Coolum, Caloundra, Maroochydore, Noosa, Peregian and the hinterland all doing different parts of the job.
Mooloolaba has always had the foot traffic, the tourists and the late-night energy. With Foxy Malone’s arriving and Blackflag putting more energy into the suburb, regular live music could give the strip a stronger local pulse.
And after a rough run of venue closures, even a familiar old pub corner getting a second life feels like the kind of positive shift the Coast could use.
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